Faranak Shapouran; Roya Ranjbar Mohammadi Bonab; Mohammad Hossein Yousefi; Hassan Asadollahfam
Abstract
Teachers' professional learning plays an important role in their attempt to change their teaching practices; however, few studies have been conducted on how teachers prepare themselves for the vast initiatives in ameliorating students' outcomes. This study aimed to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions ...
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Teachers' professional learning plays an important role in their attempt to change their teaching practices; however, few studies have been conducted on how teachers prepare themselves for the vast initiatives in ameliorating students' outcomes. This study aimed to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions toward their professional learning practices and their professional developmental orientations that contribute to the process of their professional learning. To this end, 30 Iranian EFL teachers selected through purposive sampling participated in this qualitative phenomenological study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and narrative inquiries to ensure the trustworthiness criteria of the data. The thematic analysis of the data revealed three themes of professional development programs, collaborative learning and experience-based learning. The result showed that only a few teachers were satisfied with the school-based professional learning programs, indicating that revision in the educational system was required to develop teachers’ professional learning. Meanwhile, effective learning occurred through collaboration among the teachers and the mutual learning between teachers and students, hence, leading to participative decision-making and teachers' reflective practice. Overall, participants mentioned students' outcomes as a key level of teachers' professional learning. This study has important implications for policymakers, school administrators, and teacher educators.
Leila Ahmadpour; Mohammad Hossein Yousefi
Abstract
The present study was an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in comparison to lack of it in improving learners’ writing accuracy, fluency, and complexity. To this end, a total of 39 English as a foreign language learners took part in the study. In ...
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The present study was an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in comparison to lack of it in improving learners’ writing accuracy, fluency, and complexity. To this end, a total of 39 English as a foreign language learners took part in the study. In the experimental group, learners were exposed to technologically enhanced writing practices through the Telegram application, where they were engaged in a collaborative writing task accomplished through interaction by the peers and the teacher as group members. The control group learners, on the contrary, wrote about the same topics on the paper without any collaboration from others. The results of statistical analysis revealed that although the writing fluency and complexity of experimental learners flourished in comparison to their control peers, the accuracy dimension followed a reverse pattern. In other words, control group learners were the ones who could improve their writing accuracy.The results are discussed in light of the assumption that synchronous interaction provides learners with more opportunities to write using a syntactically complex and fluent language which are in a trade-off relation with accuracy.
